- History
- Lore and Stories
- Areas of Concern / Special Places
- Ecology
- Arts and Entertainment
- Recreation
- Food and local products
- Events
- Photo Album
History
Many of the settlement lots in and around Belhaven were spoken for by the early 1800s, but it wasn’t until the 1820s that settlement truly began. Most of the hardy souls who braved the wilderness were poor immigrants from the British Isles gambling their future on their ability to coax a living from the soil hidden beneath a dense canopy of trees. These settlers were in sharp contrast to the wealthy, wellbred,
and generally ex-military people who obtained lakeshore properties. And so, early Belhaven began as a collection of farmsteads, which slowly emerged into a community that was spurred forward by a stagecoach stop and hotel catering to passengers.
Lore and Stories
Originally, Belhaven was known as Plug Mount. The exact origins of the name are lost to the mists of history, but folklore suggests a
possibility. One of Belhaven’s earliest settlers was Elemuel Draper, a colourful man whose eccentricities were well-known. When the
stage-coaches arrived daily from Toronto, he would hitch his horses up to his wagon and ride up the hill to greet them at the hotel.
Elemuel was always dressed in his fi nest, which included a top hat (known as a “plug” ). Many people began to associate the area with
this friendly man.
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Areas of Concern / Special Places
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Ecology
As a rural community, residents of Belhaven share their yards and farms with a variety of wildlife. It’s an almost common experience
to hear coyotes baying at night or to wake up in the morning, look out the windows and see doe-eyed deer in the morning haze.
Other mammals in the area include everything from jack rabbits, raccoons, and possums to foxes, fi shers, and beaver. There are also
all manner of birds, from fl ighty songbirds to majestic hawks and turkey vultures to waterfowl in the creeks and ponds to wild turkeys
in the meadows. Recently, wolves have been sighted. Deer are on the increase. Fewer ground hogs are seen, probably due to predation by larger mammals.
Arts and Entertainment
Farmers are closer to the land than any of us, more in tune with its subtle nuances, and so it’s no surprise that they greatly respect the
creatures that share the world with us. Yet, they also struggle against animals that ruin crops and destroy livestock. When farmers complain about swelling deer or wild turkey populations that ravage their fields, or about coyotes and wolves that prey upon their precious cattle and sheep, we should all pay heed. It’s a sign that the delicate balance between man and nature in the countryside may well be upset. Another change on the Belhaven landscape is the dramatic loss of many graceful and mature elm trees during the 20th century.
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Recreation
The Ontario government has been challenged since 2005 to address this inequity in land value, and subsequent demise of the farming
industry by providing subsidies to offset these problems. Other potential policy tools under development are programs to support agricultural easements, with tax benefits; allowing the sale of produce on farming property; and encouraging local processing. Buying more locally at small farmers’ markets is one excellent way for everyone to start helping – right away.
Food and local products
In the earliest farming years, wheat was the principle crop as settlers, as elsewhere in Ontario, attempted to profit from the British Empire’s insatiable hunger for grain. In good years farmers did well, but there were problems with reliance on a single crop: weather or disease could eliminate an entire harvest; a livelihood depended entirely upon a foreign market, and wheat rapidly depleted the soil.
By the late 19th century, after numerous disappointments, farmers began mixed agriculture, raising livestock, cultivating grains, and rowing vegetables. In general, mixed-farming remains the norm in Georgina to this day.
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Events
In addition to these challenges, Belhaven resident farming families are grappling with the consequences of living in Ontario’s Greenbelt. Legislation protecting this area from development has reduced the opportunity to sell farmland at its real value. For example, where a property off the Greenbelt might secure approximately $500,000 to $1 million, the same property in Belhaven would be worth far less because it cannot be developed. Furthermore, some families coping with the residual impacts of loss of land value and a drastically reduced income are forced to remain on their farms with no alternate options available. As a result, very few in the next generation can consider farming as a realistic career path. Belhaven farmers acknowledge the need to diversify and also to adapt crops to address newer
ethnic markets. At the same time, economics requires more efficient, specialized singlecrop farming which is at odds with historic mixed farming of sheep, dairy and chickens and cash crops or vegetables. These are not just farmers’ concerns but rather issues that concern all Canadians. These challenges cannot be solved without the participation and support of the public and the government that serves it. One way to the future would be a national food policy that relies on the family farm to produce local food, education to teach the consumer the value of purchasing local products directly from the farmer, and broad-scale encouragement for local, small farmer’s markets – and ideas such as purchase of local farming products for schools and hospitals.
Photo Album
